ࡱ> 8:7a Zjbjb11 .*[[@ 8 T ",FR $$$$$$$$h ~ً X $0T!$! $  EUROPEAN HISTORY STAFF STUDENT LIAISON MEETING Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 3 December 2008 in room 1.108 William Robertson Building Present Dr J. Ruiz (in Chair), Dr M. Azzolini, Dr S. Cockram, Dr V.Colthurst, Dr T. Cosentino, Mr B. Hannon, Ms K. Nicolai, Mr S. Sparks, Dr K Varley, Miss D. Belesova, Miss A. Kane, Miss C. Leith, Miss J. Mendez-Sayer, Miss E. Nurse In attendance Miss T. Welch Apologies Apologies were received from: Dr D. Kaufman, Dr V. Karali, Mr S. Thordarson Welcome Dr Ruiz welcomed staff and student representatives to the meeting informing them that this was their opportunity to officially provide feedback as to how the first semester has gone and share ideas. Course Feedback Lecture Series The students reported that the lecture series as it currently stood was good. Staff reported owing to WebCT malfunctioning on several occasions, students didnt get the opportunity to do any pre-lecture reading until the WebCT Team had fixed problems. It was concluded that in order to avoid the problem of having attachments that students couldnt open, it would be best in future if the series was presented in .rtf format, as this is accessible by both PC and Mac users. Similarly, handouts would be emailed guaranteeing all students had the opportunity to do any pre-reading. Lecture Times Students reported that the 09h00 start was not popular. Dr Ruiz hi-lighted that fact that it was not wholly popular with staff either as they invariably have to set up a half-hour prior to the lecture so as to ensure the room is as they would wish it and all technical elements to be used are in working order. It was explained that because of constraints such as the lack of large lecture theatres, and the request from College to spread classes, there was little option. Lecture Content Student Representatives reported that one or two students were concerned that British History was not covered in as much depth as they would have liked. Staff pointed out that Britain is covered, but within context with Europe. The student Representatives present were in agreement that this is the best format as those students who wish to study British History could / should have opted for British History 1. One Representative voiced concern over the general approach used by the lecturers, requesting for areas to be covered in more detail. It was explained that the purpose of the European History 1 course, as with other first year history courses, was to provide informed information and act as a precursor to the European History honours courses. As students go into their next year, the chronological time span will decrease and indeed lectures will become significantly more in-depth. Dr Cockram reminded students that issues were discussed in greater depth during the tutorials and this was one of the reasons that it is imperative that students attend their tutorials each week. Dr Cockram and other staff also reminded those present that staff were to be used as a resource, so if any student has any concerns, they must approach their tutor early on. In addition, with the opportunity to gain additional marks through the oral grade, it would benefit every student to speak up and demonstrate the analytical that they posses during their tutorials. Overall, the general consensus from the Representatives was that the students were happy with tutorials. It was agreed that it should be made clearer to visiting students that the staff are there to teach the observational and analytical skills rather than working through a source extract with the students. This is why the students are given extract to work on independently, with the tutor then working through them at the end of the semester. Methods of Assessment The Student Representatives had received many queries as to why theres one exam at the end of the year, as opposed to two lesser end-of-semester exams. Students felt that having an exam at the end of the first semester would enable them to have a clearer idea as to their capabilities and what they need to improve upon. Dr Ruiz explained that in order for such a change to be implemented, the course would need to be split into European History 1 and European History 2 each new course being worth 20 credits and more intensive as far as the student was concerned. This in turn would mean the quality of work from students would need to be significantly higher. The Student Representatives will feed this information back to their cohort. Another question raised by the students was Why one essay and one source extract, as opposed to just an essay? Dr Ruiz and staff stated that this was all good practice for Honours level as the source extract improves critical thinking and the student has to face the challenge of balancing description and argument something that the majority of students will not have done prior to entering higher education. The Representatives queried whether it was worth having an informal additional piece of coursework (such as an essay), again to gain an understanding of their own capabilities. The meeting agreed, however, that the tutorial presentations go more than part-way to addressing this issue. Conclusion The meeting agreed that with only one or two students having approached the Representatives, the general consensus was that students undertaking European History 1 were finding it a positive experience. 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